Last night, the Woodbridge Board of Education had its monthly meeting, which included the presentation of the proposed 2010/2011 budget. The meeting started off with a ‘non-meeting’ where I believe legal issues that the board needs to consider were presented. When the regular meeting started they moved directly into an extended executive session which the agenda listed as to ‘Review Personnel Staffing Issues’.

Although many people had read the proposed budget ahead of time, as well as discussed it at other opportunities, after the executive session Dr. Stella spent time explaining some of the factors going into the budget. Gavel to gavel coverage of the Board of Education meeting will be available on the Woodbridge Government Access Channel as well as on DVD from the public library. A brief clip, recorded with my Nokia N900 is included here.

Various options for further reductions in the budget were discussed including additional reductions in the number of teachers, seeking to end the agreement with the Wintergreen Magnet School or reducing the GASB funding. The reduction of GASB funding would be a short term, and perhaps short sighted effort to deal with the budget. Attempting to end the agreement with the Wintergreen Magnet School would perhaps be even more short sighted because it appears to be a highly efficient way of not only meeting particular needs of certain students, but also fulfilling various school district obligations. The current budget calls for one less teacher and one less teaching assistant. There was a good discussion about the pros and cons of additional cuts to staff.

When it came time for reviewing the administration’s monthly financial reports, again, some members of the board abstained from voting. This has been going on for a few months, and I believe it is irresponsible. With that, I presented a public comment at the end of the meeting. Below, you will find my remarks as prepared for delivery. I tempered them a little bit given the good discussion that had been had about the budget.

Good Evening

My name is Aldon Hynes. I live at 815 Fountain Street, here in Woodbridge. Some of you may know me as the father of Fiona, a second year MAG student. Others may know me by my writings at the blog Orient Lodge, that orient dash lodge dot com, on the topics of politics, education, technology, local events, and related themes. Some may simply recognize me as a frequent attendee of Woodbridge Board of Education meetings.

You may not know my history with this town and the educations system here. My wife’s grandparents grew up in Woodbridge. My aunt attended Beecher Road School in its early days. My wife and brother-in-law both grew up in Bethany, so they did not attend Beecher Road, but they did attend Amity.
More significantly, my father-in-law, who still resides in Bethany is a retired special agent for the criminal investigations division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In 2002, he was called upon to participate in a task force investigating financial irregularities at Amity High School.

In 2002, they issued a report finding that if the school board and the administration had followed their own policies and procedures, cost overruns and budget mismanagement at the school would not have happened. After this incident, it was more difficult for the school to raise necessary revenues.
It is with this in mind that I raise my concerns about the current school board. At previous meetings, some members of the school board have left before the discussions or voting to approve the administration’s financial reports. Others have abstained from voting on these reports.

While I have great respect for Dr. Stella and his team, and I have no reason to suspect any irregularities, we cannot let this become an excuse for complacency. Board members cannot rely on other board members to do their job in reviewing the financial records of the school.

During these rough financial times, when the district is considering significant financial and capital expenditures, the duty and responsibility of each board member to carefully review the financial statements of the administration is heightened. Failure to do so shows a lack of interest in financial accountability, irresponsibility, and yes, a dereliction of duty.

If there are issues that you do not understand in the financial reports, ask questions, dig deeper. I am sure the administration will be more than helpful in providing the information you need. If the information you need is not available, do not shirk your duty by abstaining. Instead, vote against approval or move that the vote to approve the report be tabled until the information you feel is needed is made available. Do not vote for, nor abstain on a vote regarding a financial report that you do not have the information you need to approve . But before you do this be prepared to discuss what information you really need and why you really need it.

While I recognize that other members of the board may be too polite to point this out, I am not. If you are unwilling, incapable, or simply too petty to do your job as a member of the Woodbridge Board of Education, you owe it to the people of Woodbridge, to not simply abstain, but to resign.

Thank you.

After the meeting ended, Board Member David Barkin, expressed his opinion, personally attacking me and using a vulgarity, referring to me as that part of the human body responsible for eliminating waste. As a free speech advocate, I defend Mr. Barkin’s right to use that language, even though I do not feel it is appropriate for a public meeting, or in most cases, even for a blog. I also appreciate the irony of what appeared to be intended as an insult actually illustrating an important point of my message. It is a key responsibility of the Board of Education to work together to eliminate waste.

Other less direct critics of my comments defended their actions pointing out that abstaining is perfectly legal. It is legal, and in some cases, it is even justified. As an example, when there is a board meeting where I had not been at the previous board meeting, I abstain from the vote to approve the minutes. In such a case, it is appropriate to leave the voting to the people that were actually at the meeting.

However, there is an important difference between an action being legal, and that action being justifiable or responsible. I stand by my comments that while the actions are legal, so far there has been no rational justification for such actions and the simply appear to be petty and irresponsible.

Other members of the board thanked me for my comments.

With this, let me broaden my comments. School districts across our country spend a lot of money educating our children. Some people may tacitly accept the budgets. Others may instinctively reject the budgets. However, these budgets are a great opportunity for citizens to get more involved with their communities, their schools and their local governments to make sure that we really do have a government, and a school system that is of, by and for the people.

Please, get involved with your school board. Discuss the budgets. Discuss how to get the best possible education for our children at the most effective cost. If you live in a town like Woodbridge, you are very lucky to have a school that actively seeks transparency. If you live in a less transparent town, get involved and help make the process more transparent.